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SANDY — Real Salt Lake kept its 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup pursuit alive off three overtime goals that secured the Claret and Cobalt a 5-2 win over the Charleston Battery Wednesday night and put the Salt Lake club through to the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
"Credit to them for the response they showed," RSL head coach Jason Kreis said about his roster. "To score five goals unanswered is pretty good."
After trailing the Battery two goals at the half, the Claret and Cobalt evened the score line by the end of the regular 90 minutes, putting the match into overtime. The same thing happened just over two weeks ago during the Salt Lake club's first Open Cup match this season against the Atlanta Silverbacks.
"I just think the players didn't have the right energy, the right mentality to make the difference in the first half and to put ourselves in a much better place that we did have," said Kreis. "That's the way to look at it in a negative light; to look at it in a positive light is to say what a terrific reaction by our players," he said.
"What a terrific mindset to battle back to get not only the game to two goals, but go to overtime and be dominate. It was outstanding, and we will do as we typically do, which is to look more at the positives than the negatives," Kreis said.
RSL rookie Devon Sandoval was the first to see the net for the Claret and Cobalt in the first 90 minutes when he put RSL on the board in the 66th minute and then again in the first 15 minutes of overtime as he hit the net in the 97th.
Credit to them for the response they showed. To score five goals unanswered is pretty good.
–Jason Kreis
The RSL heroics continued in the extra time off goals by midfielders Khari Stephenson in the 105th minute and Javier Morales in the 108th minute off a rewarded penalty kick, which secured the Salt Lake club the victory by the end of the first 15 minutes of extra time.
RSL will return to U.S. Open Cup play June 26 as it hosts the Carolina RailHawks. The RailHawks defeated the MLS club Chivas USA 3-1 Wednesday night, putting them through to the next round to face the Salt Lake club.
It's a round that Kreis hopes won't be a similar situation to the length of play the first two Open Cup matches his club has played this season have been.
"I'm hopeful that the third time we won't have to play 120 minutes, but maybe our players are just wanting to give the fans their money's worth on these Open Cup matches — 120 minutes of excitement," concluded Kreis.
The Claret and Cobalt will be on a bye week this weekend from MLS play and will return to the pitch June 22 as the club hosts Western Conference opponent the Seattle Sounders. Following the match with Seattle, RSL will return to road play where they will face Toronto FC June 29.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for ksl.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
